Wet tantalum capacitors are increasingly being used in the design of circuits due to their volumetric efficiency, reliability, and process compatibility. Such capacitors typically have a larger capacitance per unit volume than certain other types of capacitors, making them valuable in high-current, high power and low-frequency electrical circuits. Also, the unit cell voltage in this type of capacitor is generally higher due to the formation of a dielectric metal oxide film over the anode surface. Thus, wet tantalum capacitors are often used in applications where high capacitance, high voltages, good reliability, and a long operation life are needed, such as medical, industrial, defense, aerospace, drilling, etc. More particularly, in these applications, the wet tantalum capacitors are typically employed as filtering/coupling capacitors for DC/DC converter circuits. One problem with the conventional wet tantalum capacitors used in such circuits, however, is that they generally require a very large size (volume) to achieve a high level of capacitance and power output for the DC/DC converter circuit. Furthermore, attempts to reduce the size of such capacitors with an equivalent level of electrical performance have proven to be problematic.
As such, a need currently exists for a wet capacitor that is capable of exhibiting good volumetric efficiency, both in terms of its capacitance and its ability to help increase the power output of the circuit in which it is employed.